Pierre Krähenbühl (UNRWA) - Press Conference (25 June 2018)

Press briefing by Pierre Krähenbühl, Commissioner General for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA, on the Ad Hoc Committee of the General Assembly for the Announcement of Voluntary Contributions.
Ahead of a pledging conference for the Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Commissioner General Pierre Krähenbühl today (25 June) said that after the United States reduced its contribution to the agency, “we suddenly found ourselves with a shortfall of 446 million dollars affecting the whole range of our services potentially, from education, healthcare, to emergency services.”
Krähenbühl noted that the year began “with a shortfall that was built into the budget, of 146 million dollars and then had our single largest donor, the country that had been historically the most generous and predictable to UNRWA, the United States, reduce its contribution by 300 US dollars.”
The Commissioner General regret at the “hugely detrimental impact” of the US decision, but added that UNRWA “will continue of course to engage with US administration.”
Krähenbühl said, “Palestinian refugees do not see a solution for their plight on the horizon. It’s now been over 25 years since the Oslo peace process and peace agreement and the generation that has grown up since, which now makes up the majority of Palestine refugees, really do not see a prospect on the horizon for them, either politically or personally.”
The Ad Hoc Committee of the General Assembly (GA) for the Announcement of Voluntary Contributions to UNRWA will meet today at the Trusteeship Council Chamber of the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The conference, established by GA Resolution 1729 is the primary forum for the announcement by Member States of their financial support for UNRWA, in solidarity with Palestine refugees.